Francesca Simon
| Francesca Simon | |
|---|---|
| Born | 23 February 1955 St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | American British |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Notable works | Horrid Henry |
| Website | |
| www |
|
Francesca Isabella Simon (born 23 February 1955) is a British American author living in London, who is mostly known for writing the popular Horrid Henry series of children's books.
She is the daughter of screenwriter, director and playwright Mayo Simon.[1]
Biography
Francesca Simon, the author of Horrid Henry books, was born in St Louis; she grew up in California and attended both Yale and Oxford universities where she majored in medieval studies and Old English. Simon changed careers as a medievalist and worked as a journalist, writing for the Sunday Times, Guardian, Mail on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and Vogue (US).[citation needed]
Simon's favourite writer is Anthony Trollope[citation needed] After she had her son Joshua in 1989, she started to write children's books full-time. Simon is one of the UK's best-selling children's writers; she has published over 50 different books, including the immensely popular Horrid Henry series, which has now sold over eighteen million copies. Simon won the Children’s Book of the Year in 2008 at the British Book Awards for Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. The Horrid Henry series is published in 24 countries.
She lives in London with her husband Martin, son Joshua. Their Tibetan spaniel, Shanti died in Autumn 2013, but is memorialized in the short story Shanti that Simon wrote for inclusion in the Paws and Whiskers anthology by fellow author Jacqueline Wilson published in February 2014.[2]
Books
- Horrid Henry series, illustrated by Tony Ross (Orion Books, 1994 to 2015)
- The Topsy-Turvies , illus. Keren Ludlow (Dial, 1996); U.K. edition 1997, illus. Emily Bolam – picture book
- The Lost Gods (Faber Profile)– longlisted, 2014 Guardian Prize
Awards
In 2008 she won the British Book Award for The Children's Book of the Year with Horrid Henry and the Abominable Snowman. She is the first American to do so.
References
External links
- No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.
- Francesca Simon at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Francesca Simon and Miranda Richardson interviewed at the Edinburgh Book Festival
- Francesca Simon at Library of Congress Authorities, with catalogue records
- Use dmy dates from December 2015
- Use British English from December 2015
- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2014
- Official website missing URL
- 1955 births
- English children's writers
- American children's writers
- Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford
- People from St. Louis, Missouri
- Yale University alumni
- Living people
